Cosmology and Astrophysics

The Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics (CERCA) supports research and educational programs that range from the interface between particle-physics and astrophysics to cosmology.

Center scientists seek to understand the contents of our universe, from the microscopic nature of dark matter and dark energy to the detailed structure and distribution of clusters of galaxies.

Using giant accelerators on the shores of Lake Geneva, microwave telescopes at the South Pole, radio dishes spread across the Argentinean Pampas, telescopes in the mountains of the American West, ultracold detectors deep under those mountains, and computers and minds on our University Circle campus, we explore the far reaches of the universe and try to tell a coherent story from the beginning of time through the present and into the far-off future.